The former president just made a campaign stop in Howell, Michigan, where white supremacists recently held a march and voiced support for Trump, Hitler, Nazis and the KKK.

Donald Trump’s appearance in Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday sparked controversy before he even arrived. That’s because the visit continued his notable tradition of scheduling campaign stops in locations known as hotbeds for racist extremism.

Just last month, a group of white supremacists marched in Howell and expressed their support for Trump and Adolf Hitler. As journalist Jon King wrote for the Michigan Advance, the event evoked memories of Howell’s racist — and in some cases, fairly recent — history of public bigotry and the Ku Klux Klan.

  • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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    3 months ago

    I don’t think he needs a defense, honestly. If ever there was a legitimate right-wing claim of free speech it’s a presidential candidate being able to visit with and address whoever he or she chooses.

    But the rest of us are also free to deduce what we will from who he chooses to stump to.

    • lettruthout@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Agreed. It’s good that they’re now saying the quiet parts out loud. We can see that there’s definitely a pattern of racism in Trump’s actions. Those of us that are secure don’t have to support it.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Agreed. But it seems odd he’s out there preaching to the choir while Harris is touring battleground states.

      • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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        3 months ago

        But it seems odd he’s out there preaching to the choir while Harris is touring battleground st

        That’s a fair point but I think it comes down to the fact that the only part of his mind that hasn’t been consumed by whatever brain rot he’s got going on seems to be his ego. In that light, it’s totally logical. (for Trump)

        • Nyxon@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Not to put words in the previous posters mouth but my thoughts are that he is riling up his militant base in anticipation of either getting jail time or losing the election so that the most violent individuals in his base of support would maybe protect and fight for him. I think that was what the previous poster was inferring.

          • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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            3 months ago

            Ah good point I didn’t catch that. Stochastic terrorism is definitely a Trump MO, so I agree there also!

    • ultramaven
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      3 months ago

      Man anyone can be a presidential candidate. He’s the nominee.

      • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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        3 months ago

        Sure, but anyone has the right to address who they want. (And as noted, have that pattern noticed…)

        • ultramaven
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          3 months ago

          I’m just saying that’s the reason it matters, I could address myself as a Presidential Candidate but no one is gonna care until Im the nominee. Beyond that, Trump’s immunity comes from that fact, or at least some semblance of it.